With the five-eighths-mile North Wilkesboro Speedway off the schedule since 1997, the 1-mile Rockingham Speedway off since 2005 and one of the 1.33-mile Darlington Raceway events also gone since 2005, Burton said it’s more of a challenge for drivers to put on a great race.

“We replaced them with either flat one-mile racetracks or with mile-and-a-half tracks,” Burton said Friday prior to testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that if you put 43 cars on a half-mile racetrack, you're going to have more action than if you put 43 cars on a mile-and-a-half racetrack.

“So we have got to find a way to get the cars closer together on mile-and-a-half tracks. How do we do that? The only way to do that is to make them drive better, slow them down a little bit; make them drive better, and try to get them closer together so you have more action.”

He thinks that’s possible with the 2013 car, which will have more rear downforce and more mechanical grip.

Martin Truex Jr. believes Goodyear might be able to make a tire that will work much better for the 2013 car, which weighs 160 pounds less than the 2012 car and has new rear suspension rules (including the elimination of a rear sway bar and new tire camber).

“The drivers all want a tire that wears out so the car will start to slide around, gets hard to drive and puts on a better show (and) is a lot more fun to race,” Truex said. “With the weight in the right side of the cars, it’s been difficult for them to do that (in recent years).”

Burton believes NASCAR needs to find a way to create enough action to appease a changing fan base.

“Our fans expect more today than they did 10 years ago,” Burton said. “I watch a lot of racing, as you guys do, (and) I just don't think the racing is different last year as it was 10 years ago, but a lot of fans do. I think the expectation level is raised with the advent of the X-Games.

“With the advent of people jumping motorcycles on top of the thing in Las Vegas three years ago on New Year’s. I think the expectation level has gotten raised. We have to match that. We have got to find a way to get there. The only way to do that is create more action.”